He Doesn't Have a Plan
As a teen and young adult, I used to lie awake in my bed at night contemplating all the different ways pain and suffering might visit me. Traumatic stories I had heard from others included words like “unexpected”, “unaware”, “freak accident”, or simply “we had no idea.” So I took that as a challenge and convinced myself that if I could just imagine all the possible perilous scenarios, they wouldn’t happen. Eventually the probability of my own oblivion became the main source of my anxiety. Needless to say, I was unsuccessful in my efforts to expect the unexpected. During these times of gripping fear, I found comfort in being surrounded by my family. Their presence didn’t minimize my fear nor did it lessen my risk of danger, but being with them made my anxiety more bearable by simply knowing I wasn’t alone. Through the years, God has made this more real to me now as a parent. When my kids are afraid, worried, or hurt their first response is to draw near to a family member. Many times they’re not even asking for help or expecting a quick fix; they just want the comfort of not suffering alone. When surrounded by the void of uncertainty with no hope in sight, the assurance of someone trustworthy and tangible provides us peaceful relief.
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
Psalms 91:1-2
Despite my past attempts to avert my imaginary danger 🙄, there is in fact only One who knows everything and He doesn’t operate under mere possibilities. His stories include words like “don’t worry,” “fear not,” “follow me,” and “be healed.” Despite the challenges surrounding Jesus during his time on earth, He spoke with the undaunted authority and steadfast wisdom of His Father who sent Him. Therein lies the paradox between us and God. When we’re in the dark, He’s the light. When we waver, He’s the anchor. When we tremble, he’s the calm. And when we’re surprised, he’s all the wise. He knows. All of it. Every single bit. While we anticipate, navigate, and strategize through a dilemma, He encompasses, overcomes, and embodies its resolve. We seek affirmation through more information in hopes of controlling our narrative, but we completely forget that He alone supersedes all earthly wisdom and knowledge to be had. He matters more than any other story ever told from the first “once upon a time” to the final “the end.”
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Ephesians 3:20
In most of the notable Bible narratives, God wove a common thread through each historical account. He often placed an unlikely character in a position for which they were unsuitable or ill-equipped, yet they still accomplished their purpose. In Genesis, He chose a childless man to Father a nation. In the book of Samuel, He picked a scrawny boy to become a warrior king. Moses, Rahab, David and others prove He didn’t hesitate to send hustlers and murderers on rescue missions. He even tasked an unwed teen girl to carry and raise His very own flesh and blood; Son of Man, unmarred and untainted. He took Saul, the spearhead for evangelical extinction and refashioned him for its mass expansion. Time and time again, God has displayed His power through the weakness of humanity, yet we’ve diluted their purpose to simply bolster our defense against our own personal inadequacies. We want to believe God has a "big plan" for our lives too and these characters provide us with the confidence we need to offer our gifts despite our insecurities. While this may be a reasonable exposition of scripture, I would argue that it’s a grossly myopic conclusion. We fixate on the flaws of biblical characters because we relate to their human frailty forgetting that He didn't use those characters to inflate them, but to exalt Himself. The contrast between God and His people helps us see Him as He truly is from the Holy, Perfect, Almighty King to the Gentle, Merciful, Good Shepherd. I would argue that God’s intent in using these stories was not merely about Him using human imperfection to accomplish a certain plan; rather, it was an intentional production of the most outrageous, overtly ironic, human circumstances to show that no matter how ridiculous we are or how unhinged this world becomes, He alone remains infinite, steady, and sure. Against all odds, despite all obstacles, and in the face of severe opposition from every possible direction, He alone is able to do what no one else can.
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